Father wants to spread word on Tabitha's Wish

Duncan McLindon of Covington wants other parents to know what a gift his daughter gave to others. He also wants parents to know it’s OK to talk to their children about this gift of life itself. When Tabitha McLindon was 12, she went to the Department of Motor Vehicles to get a state ID so that she could open a checking account. While there, she checked “yes” on the box asking if she would be an organ donor.

“A week to the day later,” her father said, “Tabitha passed away.” Tabitha had never been sick a day in her life, McLindon said, but she suffered a rare brain bleed and subsequent seizure last April. There was nothing the doctors could do.

In the midst of the pain of losing a child, Tabitha’s parents did not have to struggle for an answer when asked if they would donate her organs.

“Tabitha answered that for us,” McLindon said, and her answer saved the lives of seven people who received her organs.

Just recently, McLindon said, he met the young girl who received Tabitha’s lungs. “Meeting her truly healed me,” he said. “I could see my daughter live on. I cannot put into words how that has helped my hurt.”

The knowledge of Tabitha’s legacy keeps McLindon working to get the word out on the importance of organ donation. He supports the Louisiana Organ Procurement Association, and he has set up a Facebook page, Tabitha’s Wish, to raise awareness about the importance of donations.

He also has had digital billboards installed in Baton Rouge to direct people to Tabitha’s Wish, and he just wants people to know how vitally important organ donations can be, he said.

“I am focusing on having a talk with your children (about organ donation). I would pray to God it doesn’t happen to anyone,” McLindon said of losing a child, but he knows what can happen so quickly. And he knows how many lives can be saved.

“I just want to get her story out,” he said of his daughter. He wants people to know that a simple “yes” on a driver’s license or state ID card can bring life and peace when a doctor asks, “Can we donate your loved one’s organs?”

“It was heaven-sent, that she had already answered that question for me,” McLindon said.